


Her Name Is Link

by DarkDjinn



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-01-07 07:41:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12228537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkDjinn/pseuds/DarkDjinn
Summary: Ganon has not returned for years, taking the magic and monsters with him. Many years have passes since then, allowing Hyrule to develope to a world not unlike our own.Many years later, when the old legends are long forgotten, Ganon has returned. Now it's time for a brand new Link to take the hero's mantel...





	1. It's Ashley

“Ashley, your hair is dripping all over the book. “

“So?”

“ _So_ , it’s wet! That’s my book, you know!”

The boy wrestled the book away from his partner, whose short, spikey hair was soaked.

She ran her hand through her hair, which because of the water looked almost black, much darker than its usual dark blond-light brown color. It highlighted her strong blue eyes and her chiseled features.

“I _tried_ to dry it, but for some reason it never works, “she commented while trying to dry it with her sleeve. It was futile effort; her shirt was water proof, suitable to the December weather, and couldn’t absorb the water from her hair.

“Well, do you _have_ to shower _right_ before school?” he whispered angrily, lowering his voice now to avoid attracting the teacher’s attention. “Can’t you get up earlier or something?!”

“I wake up at _five_ , “she replied, raising an eyebrow, “because unlike some lazy bum-“ she poked his side, causing him to recoil slightly “-I have practice. You don’t actually expect me to come to school covered in sweat, right?”

He sighed. “Just because your dad has an Indiana Jones obsession doesn’t mean you have to drench my books every morning,” he objected. “Besides, I don’t understand why the rich archeologists can’t buy some new books.”

“I told you, we ordered them, they just haven’t arrived yet!” she complained with a sour expression. “My books were ruined first, Kevin, remember?”

“Miss Knight, Mr. Smith, I am sure your conversation is extremely important but I’m afraid it will have to wait for later, or you will not be in my class.” They flinched guiltily. Alerted by Ashley’s last outburst, the teacher was staring at them with a disapproving look. He glanced at Ashley and sighed. “And Miss Knight, may I ask why is your hair dripping all over the floor?”

“Sword-fighting practice, Mr. Edgeworth.”

He furrowed his brows. “I thought that was yesterday?”

“Yesterday was acrobatics.”

He sighed again. “Well, next time, do try to dry your hair properly before class. “

* * *

 

 

“So Ash was chewed out by Mr. Blandworth again?”

Recess was always noisy, since their school was tiny and they weren’t allowed outside. The seniors, of course, took the best spots to hang out, and the juniors clogged the small school cafeteria. Therefore, the freshmen had no choice but to stay in class.

The one who mad that remark was a petite girl, who leaned on Ashley’s desk. She wasn’t from their class – she came to the classroom during recess, as always.

Ashley sighed. “What can I do? My hair refuses to dry.”

Kevin grinned besides her. “Ashley, the girl with the ever wet hair!” He raised his arms and spoke with a deep voice, imitating a circus ringmaster.

“Shut up, Kevin.”

The small girl grinned too. “Come meet the miraculous elvish girl!” she joined in. Her over-the-top bravado was much more convincing than her friend’s. “Witness this real life wonder woman who can swordfight, lift heavy weights, journey through every terrain, ride horses and has archery skills that rival Robin Hood! Don’t miss this one-in-a-lifetime chance!”

“Shut _up_ , Liz.”

They laughed simultaneously. She shot them a grumpy look. She lifted her hand to her ear, feeling it’s elongated shape and sharpened end that reflected Liz’s ‘elvish’ remark.

Though, to be honest, it didn’t perfectly fit her; her tanned skin and slightly-shorter-than-average height clashed with the usual elf stereotypes.

“Seriously though, Ash, you have to do something about your dad. His obsession is getting out of hand.”

She shrugged. “I don’t mind. Besides, it’s kinda fun. “

A bell rang.

“Oh crap! Hurry Liz, your classroom is on the other side of the school!” jumped Kevin.

“Right! See you after school!” she ran off as quickly as her tiny legs could carry her, but it was clear she wouldn’t make it on time. Ashley and Kevin looked at each other with half amused, half worried expressions.

* * *

 

After school they walked back, laughing. Liz was, as expected, late, and her teacher yelled at her so loudly they could hear the echoes in their own classroom. Soon they reached Ashley’s street, and she waved them goodbye.

She walked silently up the road filled with large houses, each having many floors and its own garden. It was quiet; all the houses belonged to rich professors, and everyone in the neighborhood had a silent agreement not to make noise during working hours (which, for professors, were basically from dawn to dusk).

When she entered her own house she was greeted by more silence. Unfazed, she laid down her school bag - which was actually one made for tracking and long journeys, which she accessorized - with a small thud near the kitchen door; she’ll come back here later. Instead, she headed for the third floor. She knew exactly where her parents will be.

She passed by the numerous rooms that held the various artifacts related to her parents’ research, until she reached the study room at the end of the hallway. She was right – there they were, talking animatedly over a piece of parchment. Ashley laughed to herself. _Seriously, they look like school children talking about the new episode of their favorite show._ She wasn’t kidding – it was strange how the two respected professors managed to look like they were ten years old.

Her mother, Grace, was making wild gestures, excitement lighting up her brown eyes. The childish impression was further supported by her small stature and round face. Her father, Jonathan, was the louder of the two. His deep voice and strong features, which he passed on to his daughter along with his piercing blue eyes – didn’t spare him from looking decades younger than he actually was as he enthusiastically raised his voice by about two octaves.

Her mother saw her first. “Oh, honey, welcome home!” she hugged her closely, “We didn’t notice you. “

“Ashley, how many times do I have to tell you? We’re Knights, not ninjas!” he nudged her on the shoulder, earning him an eye roll from his daughter for his lame joke. “How was school?”

“Fine,” she shrugged. “Mr. Edgeworth was mad about my hair again. “

He frowned. “Would you like me to talk to him?”

“No it’s fine, I’ll handle it. “

“Are you sure? I can-“

“Hey, is that a new scroll? Where did you get it?” She quickly changed the subject. It was crude, but it still worked – her parents’ faces lit up predictably. “We borrowed it from the royal family to study it,” said Grace energetically.

Ashley cocked her head. “The royal family?”

“The royal family of the Old Kingdom. Remember-“

“-long ago the world was one continent, and it was ruled over by the kingdom of Hyrule,” she interrupted. She’d heard it before. Her parents specialized in the study of the Old Kingdom. While she didn’t hate it, she was never very interested in it, but it was impossible to escape the subject entirely in the house.

Jonathan smiled. “Well, the royal family today is descendant of the royal family of Hyrule. They live by its traditions and keep many documents and artifacts.”

“I see,” she smiled. “Well,” she said turning away, “I’ll leave you two to play, I’m getting dinner. “ She left, heading downstairs.

As the sounds of her footsteps disappeared, the looked at each other, the joy seeping from their faces, turning into worry. “Do you think we should tell her?” Grace whispered.

Jonathan shook his head. “There’s a very strong possibility nothing will happen. Why worry-“

“But she has the mark of the Triforce! You know that didn’t happen by chance!”

He frowned. When they saw the birthmark on their infant daughter’s left hand – a perfect replication of the most sacred symbol of the Old Kingdom – they were instantly filled with shock and terror. As researches specializing in the study of the Old Kingdom, they knew perfectly well what that meant.

“We’ve done our best to prepare her, to give her the necessary skill to succeed, but she knows nothing! Shouldn’t we at least tell her more of Hyrule?!”

He gritted his teeth. “.. We can’t,” he said finally. “One of the traits of the hero is the ability to face the unknown. She’s heard the bare necessities from us over the years – it should be enough.”

“But-“

“No, Grace. She must act in Courage. You know this as well as me. “ He hugged his distraught wife, even though he was far from sure himself. “All we can do is believe in her. “

She hugged him back, searching for comfort. True, there was every possibility that that day would never come – it hasn’t for ages – but if it will, they knew it spelled almost certain doom.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Ashley was running late. Today was Tuesday – tracking day. It wasn’t just that though – she was navigating in the wilderness on her own, using a stick she found to fight off the wild animals. It was a toned-down version of the survival training she went through once a month: going from the starting point to the place where her parents were waiting over the course of two days.

Today she was tracking in mountains two hours away from town. She took longer than usual to find her way, by about thirty minutes– but that was more than enough incredibly late. She didn’t have time to take a shower. She freshened her deodorant  washed her hair in the sink, shoved her history book in her bag – the only subject today she didn’t share Kevin’s book – and ran outside to catch the bus.

The school stood on top of a hill in the outskirts of town. There were rumors of an ancient temple that used to be there many years ago, born out of almost mystical sight of the old building that stood isolated at the end of the long forest road. These days the distance only stood to make it impossible for students to get to school on their own – the road wasn’t paved, so normal cars couldn’t drive on it, and the long mountain road - though it was only a hill, it was very steep - made it extremely hard to walk. The result was that the only reasonable way to get to school was by the school buses, and they were always on time. So if you happened to be late… either driving the hard road or walking up the hill, the result wasn’t pretty, and you’ll arrive even later.

Ashley was barely on time – she had to run like mad to the bus stop, her hair soaking her muddy clothes and got on the bus at the last second.

She sat down, panting, on the empty seat that Liz saved for her.

“Harsh day?”

She nodded weakly. “I met with a bear – he was following me around for like twenty minutes. I saw him before too – I swear that bear has a vendetta against me.”

Liz laughed. On the last stop Kevin got up, and by then Ashley regained her breathing. They were having PE on second period – she would change then to the spare clothes she always kept in her tracking bag. One thing she did not carry, however, was a cell phone – it was useless in the wild where there was no connection, and she didn’t have enough time to put it in her bag while she was rushing out. She didn’t mind much; she never was one of those obsessed with phones or social media.

Barely three minutes have passed before the bell rang, with Mr. Edgeworth following closely behind. He scowled at Ashley’s clothes and hair, but said nothing. It happened around twice a month. And while he sometimes criticized her, he never did so harshly. He knew how hard those training sessions were on her; he had gone through sword fighting himself back in the day. He was always ready to help her – with school work or otherwise. Unlike his timid, even boring looks and old-fashioned attitude, he truly cared about his students.

“As you know, Parents’ day is two weeks away-” he was interrupted by a groan from the students. “-if you believe   it to be that bad, you have some self-scrutiny to do. As I said, Parents’ day is two weeks from now, and the school administration printed out the date and time of each of your appointments. I’ll hand them out now, be sure to give it to your parents on time. ” He pulled a large stack of papers from his bag and begun handing them one by one to the students.

“Miss Knight,” he said, handing Ashley her invitation. She scowled when she saw the name printed on it. ‘To the parents of Link Knight’ it said. Kevin gave her a sympathetic look.

“I do apologize, Miss Knight, I _have_ talked to them, but the invitations are printed automatically based on the students’ first and last names only. The computer program simply cannot make exceptions.”

She sighed with a gloomy expression. _Link Ashley Knight_. That was her full name. While everyone who knew her knew to use her middle name, it still bothered her. She was tired of correcting everyone who knew her full name, teachers mostly. _It’s Ashley_ , she argued, but sometimes it took many weeks to get it through their heads.

She wanted to change it from a young age, but her parents always refused. _“ We named you Link because you are the Link between the new world and the Old Kingdom.”_   her mother always said when she complained. She knew how important it was to her parents, so she never said anything bad about it. But she thought there was a good compromise - why not switch them? However, any time she asked them why they didn’t just name her Ashley Link instead, they evaded the subject and never gave her a clear answer.

While she was thinking increasingly pettier thought on her parents’ decision for her name, Mr. Edgeworth finished handing the invitations and started the class. Ashley ad Kevin’s regular argument over her wet hair had already ceased and everyone was listening - Mr. Edgeworth was one of the rare teachers that could make any subject interesting and always had the whole class invested.

Midway through the class, the peace and quiet was suddenly interrupted – a rumble sound was heard, which was followed by everything starting to shake violently.


	2. Hyrule’s Resurrection

“Earthquake!”  
Someone shouted. Before they had a chance to panic, they heard a relatively-calm voice.

“Everyone, form a line and follow me out of the premises quietly,” though he was paler than them, Mr. Edgeworth insisted on following regulations. As they ran out to the woods – not the best place to hide during an earthquake, but better than the school building – Ashley couldn’t help thinking there was something wrong. Was this really an earthquake? While the earth was shaking, in was shaking the same way. Her suspicions grew as they reached the woods – all of the trees that fell did so to the same direction. It was as if the ground was pulled in one direction, dragging them along.

As suddenly as it started, the rumbling stopped, making Ashley fall to her knees and the rest of them fall down. As they struggled to stand, she spotted someone with an especially small frame among the students near.

“Liz! Are you okay?” she cried, rushing over.

“Y-yes,” she stuttered, using Ashley’s outstretched hand to support herself. “What about you?” she asked, as Kevin was making his way over to them. Behind them, the rest of the students and staff regained their senses. Mr. Edgeworth started a roll call. Making sure everyone was there and was all right, and was followed by the other teachers, as the students met up with their friends, starting to relax a little and chat.

Their moment of peach didn’t last long. As they stood there in the room, backpacks still on (they were wary of the after-shock, and were preparing to escape again at a moment’s notice), Ashley saw a vague figure in the woods, hiding in the shadows of the trees that were still standing.

“Sir, are you quite all right?” said Mr. Edgeworth, turning back to the humanoid shadow (Ashley was impressed by the keenness of his senses, being able to notice a presence behind him some distance away).  There was no answer from the shadowy figure as it continued to march forward. There was something…odd about it. Ashley could almost _sense_ something from it – some kind of malicious energy. _No, that’s ridiculous_ , she told herself, but she couldn’t completely shake off the feeling of dread that only kept growing stronger as the shadow marched on, now almost out of the woods.

“Sir-“ Mr. Edgeworth started to form, raising his head to match the approaching silhouette, that was now clearly about three heads taller than him. But his words were cut abruptly when the shadow finally stepped onto the light.

It was not a man. True, it had human shape and a rather bulky one at that – with a large figure and big, muscly limbs – but beneath the raggedy clothes they could see a dark reddish skin. Even with the light shining on its face, his eyes looked glassy, with no light reflecting in his light cyan eyes and jet black pupils. His head, under an inefficient-looking metal helmet, was unproportionately small in relation to his humongous size, and his large bulbous nose and ruddy cheeks gave it a pig-like appearance to its entire being. Contrary to the impression caused by its huge stomach it was moving quite quickly – revealing behind it rows of similar creatures they didn’t notice before, stepping out of the forest line. Ashley quickly looked back, looking for an escape route – but all she saw where more beasts. In her heart she knew it was pointless, but still she desperately looked to the right and left, her panic growing with every new monster that arrived at the scene. They were surrounded.

They were paralyzed with fear, unmoving as the rustling sound slowly faded as all of the creatures reached the soil road. All they could do was watch with glassy eyes at them. But before they could unfreeze, the first to come out of the forest blew into a large animal horn. To the deep sound the pig beasts rushed forward. Each of them grabbed a person and threw him over its shoulder, like they were nothing more than a doll, ignoring the frantic punches of their prisoners like they were nothing more than the touch of a feather. Once they’ve gotten their prisoner they’ve started running back into the darkness of the forest, undisturbed by the extra weight.

About a third of them were abducted in complete silence, even including those that were taken. Then, all hell broke loose. There were screams for help and shouts of rage, and loud shrieks as some of them retaliated against the human-pig monstrosities, to save themselves or those that were taken. It was futile, however – their attacks had almost no effect. Mr. Edgeworth was the closest – he fought five of them and managed to wrestle off three students, but was finally taken down with a smack on the head from behind.

Ashley didn’t fare much better – her punches and kicks didn’t seem to do a thing to those monsters. From the corner of her vision she could see her friends carried off by two of them, crying for help, until their silhouettes blended into the shadows of the woods.

“Liz! Kevin!” she cried, and threw a desperate kick at the pig-man behind her. It only seemed to serve to piss it off. Ignoring her struggles, it picked her off from her feet, and threw her over its back, taking her by surprise. She tried hitting its back – even though it held her from her ankle (which hurt a lot) her face was still on level with its upper back. In fact, it was so tall its face brushed off the lower branches.

After about five minutes of this, when she could already see a faint light in the distance, Ashley finally saw her savior – a loose branch hang down from one of the trees in front of her, small enough to be used as a weapon. She grabbed onto it, letting the weight and speed of her capturer do the rest. It broke with a loud ‘crack’, and as the creature turned to see what happened, she hit it in the face.

It let go of her by reflex, and she fell to the ground, rolling by habit to avoid getting hurt. It reached out to grab her again, but she managed to get out of the way. It was quick, but not agile – as she rolled around it, it had difficulty turning in time before she hit it again with the branch.

It took a while. Long after she could no longer hear the other creatures running in the woods, she was still hitting it with her makeshift sword, and then quickly retreating. The branch was heavier than her practice sword, and she felt her arm get more and more tired, but she didn’t let go. Finally, it screeched and disappeared with a puff of purple-black smoke. Something fell to the grass. She looked down, and could barely see a small green glint. She picked it up, revealing a small hexagonal-shaped green gem, roughly as big as the palm of her hand. She put it in her pocket, straightened her back and looked around. The forest was deserted. The pig-like creatures, her school mates, Mr. Edgeworth, Liz and Kevin – they were all gone.

In a daze, she started walking. Where, she did not know. She just couldn’t stand staying there a second longer. She went back, picking her bag up by habit, the thought not even crossing her conscious mind, as she went down the familiar road. As she walked down the road and into the town, she either didn’t notice - or couldn’t bear to notice – the destroyed roads by the massive earthquake, the cars and houses with the massive dents and claw marks, and the unnatural quiet that accompanied it all.

 

* * *

 

Until Ashley reached the street filled with large, fancy houses, she hadn’t noticed where she was going. It wasn’t that she thought that her parents’ could help her – not really. But in her heart, she desperately wished that they could – that they could tell her that it’s okay, that everything is going to be fine. She wanted to see a familiar face, a familiar scenery, one that wasn’t damaged or destroyed beyond repair.

The houses here were almost perfectly fine, a far cry from the collapsed buildings in the rest of the city; the rich could always afford more secure houses, and the professors who lived there were always wise enough to make sure that they do.

As she opened the door, she heard a loud, obnoxious sound – the generator was running. The lights flickered, too. She could hear distant talking, and she headed that way. The earthquake left its mark on the interiors – everything was scattered, and most of it on the ground. Oddly, nothing was broken.

She found her parents in the kitchen, engrossed in the news on their spare TV; it was satellite-only and had few channels on it, but her parents always insisted on having it – for emergencies, they said.

Ashley dropped her bag – she was suddenly so exhausted – and it fell down with a thud. They jumped at the noise, and noticed their daughter. “Oh honey, thank the Gods you’re-“Grace’s words cut off, and her face, that radiated relief at Ashley’s arrival, transformed into a worried expression as she took in Ashley’s state. “Ashley honey, what happened to you?” Hands on her shoulders, her mom sat her down on one of the chairs, as her father rushed to get the first aid kit.

She hadn’t paid attention to her appearance before, but now that Ashley took a good look at herself, she looked dreadful. Her hair was messed up and full of twigs, her clothes were torn and mudded and she had scratches and bruises everywhere.

Her dad came back. “Now, Ashley,” he said, muting the TV and crouching besides her chair, “tell us what happened.”

Ashley told them, while wincing as her father tended to her wounds. At the beginning she was calm, and her voice was level. But as she went on she started breaking down. When she spoke of the monsters tears were streaming freely down her face, and when she got to losing Liz and Kevin she was sobbing so hard her words were almost unintelligible.

When she finished (and calmed down) her parents exchanged a dark glance. Her mother sighed, “Now there’s no more place for doubt, “she said. “Ganon has returned,” Jonathan completed the sentence, sitting down on another chair.

Ashley turned pale. She heard enough of the Old Kingdom legends to know of the Dark Lord Ganon. ‘Whenever he rose, chaos and destruction fell upon the land,’ her mother used to say, ‘until the Hero of Legend defeated him and brought back peace.’

But she didn’t care about the hero.

 

“So they’re… gone?” she said in a small voice. She wanted to deny it, to shout that the legends are just fairy tales, that Ganon was never real, but she could still see the monsters behind her eyelids. Somewhere within her, she knew her parents were telling the truth. And it terrified her.

 

Her father put his hand on her arm, comforting her. “Ashley…”

“Maybe not,” her mother said.

 

Both their eyes shot up, Ashley’s with hope, and Jonathan's with criticism. His expression warned his wife not to offer false hope. But Grace shook her head with a warm smile, dismissing his worries. “They carried them away, right? If they wanted to kill them, they would’ve done so on the spot. “

 

“Ah!” exclaimed the surprised Jonathan. “They must’ve needed them for something - that’s too many people for them to kidnap just for fun…”

“Just… just for fun?” Ashley asked weakly. She understood what he didn’t say. “How long would they be safe for?”

 

His face grew dark. It was clear he didn’t want to worry his daughter, but the situation didn’t permit it. “They’re safe as long as Ganon still needs them, but we don’t know what he needs them for, so we can’t really make an assumption…”

 

Jonathan continued speaking, but his voice grew more and more distant, until it became background noise. Ashley started shaking. Her friends could die, probably horribly, without warning, at any second. She saw their face again, being carried away by those pig-shaped monstrosities.

 

No. She will not allow that. She could feel it deep in her bones - the will to do something, and the price she’ll pay for that be damned.

 

“I’m going to save them,” she said finally and full of resolution, cutting her father’s words. She looked both of them in the eyes. “And don’t bother yelling at me, I’m going with or without your permission.”

 

She expected them to protest, but they just looked at her with slightly reluctant expressions. “We could never stop you when you put your mind to something, could we?” her father said with a small sigh, and her mother got up, and turned towards the door. “Just let us help you before you go, will you honey?” she turned her head back and said with a bitter-sweet smile.

She went out to the house, and she could hear her stepping carefully so she won’t trip. Meanwhile, the other professor rose up. He put on the table some water and emergency provisions they always kept in the kitchen, and emptied Ashley’s bag on the table, dividing it to two stacks by their usefulness.

 

Ashley just stood there, oddly touched by her parents’ support. She discovered her vision was getting blurry, and quickly blinked the tears out of her eyes. If she cries now, she’ll only worry them.

 

Grace came back, holding four items in her hands - her practice sword, still in its sheath, her wooden shield, her best and most durable tracking clothes, and an odd looking pouch.

 

It wasn’t really a pouch - there was no way to open or close it, it was just leather sewn together. On it were carved letters in what Ashley recognized as the language of Hyrule of old. In the middle, where the clasp would normally be, there was a bird-like symbol, and above it-

“It’s like the one on my hand,” she realized, touching it with the tip of her finger. She knew it was an important symbol for the Old Kingdom… a fact that always raised some suspicion. She turned back her head to face her parents with a disapproving and suspecting look. “You’re sure you didn’t tattoo this on me when I was little?”

 

They smiled in the same way they always did when she raised that question - tired and a bit evasive, like they’re not telling the whole truth. “No Ashley, we didn’t,” said Jonathan, and Grace added as always “it was so remarkable that it made us call you Link.”

 

She sighed and let it go. “So, what's this?”

The uneasy smiles swiftly disappeared. “It’s a special item from the old kingdom,” said her mother, placing the rest of the items on the kitchen table. She lowered her head and narrowed her eyes slightly in guilt. “Actually, we borrowed it from the royal family for research... but you need it more right now. “

She raised her head and continued in a brighter tone. “It’s a magic relic – it has some special properties to store items. Jonathan?”

Her father, finished organizing the contents of her bag, carried them to her. She took on of them – a compass – and put her other hand on the pouch’s “clasp”. The symbol on the “clasp” lit up in gold, and then the compass glowed in a faint white light – and disappeared.

“Wh-“gasped Ashley. Her mother chuckled, raised her hand, and then touched the symbol again. It lit up in gold again – and then her empty hand was filled with white light – and the compass reappeared.

“When you touch the symbol and focus on storing what you want to store, it’ll happen,” explained the amused Jonathan to his stunned daughter. “If you touch it again on focus on an item that’s there, you’ll get it back.”

“You’ll also need this,” her mother said, and gave her a piece of parchment she took out of the pouch while her husband was explaining. She gave it a quick glance, and the first thing she noticed was the title. “A map of Hyrule?”

The professors both gestured at the silent TV (Grace dropping the pouch on the floor in the process), which now showed a map of the world. The nineteen continents converged into one, and Ashley’s eyed widened as she saw the shape on the screen was almost identical to the one on the map she held.

“Ganon has returned the land to the form it one had, “said Jonathan. “Well, the last on them, anyway, “he corrected offhandly. She sent him a questioning look, but he turned around and continues speaking. “If you want to save them, there’s no time to waste. You better go now. “

“Don’t worry about us, “said Grace and hugged her, “we’ll be fine in the bunker downstairs, we have enough supplies for a long time. We’ll go rescue the remaining people in town and stay here until things calm down enough.”

“Wait wait wait,” said Ashley sharply. “We have a _bunker_? And enough supplies for half a town for a while? And come to think of it,” she continued, her voice increasing in volume as she went on, “Everything in the houses was just fine, wasn’t it? And the TV, and the generator…” she looked them dead in the eyes with a sharp glare. Before they turned their eyes away, she could see a glint of guilt.

“You _knew_ about this? You _knew_ this would happen?” she accused them, and they physically flinched, as if the words were actual fists thrown at them. “Why didn’t you warn anyone? Why didn’t you warn _me?_ ”

“Honey…” Grace started to say in a comforting yet apologetic tone.

“Don’t you ‘honey’ me!” she exploded, making them recoil again.  “What _possible_ excuse could you have for this?!”

“We didn’t think anyone would-“

“Believe you?” she cut him off, her voice even louder than before, “Not even me? Maybe no one else would believe you, but _I_ would! Even if I didn’t, I’d at least _trust_ you enough to do what you say, which _you_ clearly don’t!” She was breathing hard, her fingers hurting from being clinched to fists in such force. She didn’t notice the unnatural stillness of the professor she was yelling at, or how wide their eyes were. “If you would’ve told me, when the monsters attacked I would know exactly what was happening! I could have stopped them! Then maybe Liz and Kevin wouldn’t…” she couldn’t form the words. The strength left her body, and she sat down with a thud, holding her head in her hands. The anger dissipated, unveiling the self-blame, betrayal and helplessness it was masking. She didn’t mean what she said – she knew that even if she’d known about it, even if she believed them, even if she came to school every day in full armor and a steel sword, she wouldn’t have been able to deal with that many… whatever they were. She shuddered again remembering their force and their hideous figure. No, beating them all would have been impossible – she barely handled one. But still – they could’ve have _told_ her.

She jolted as she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and brought her gaze up. She saw her father’s face with a sincere and slightly lonely smile, and her mother behind him, clasping her hands slightly in apology.

“Ashley…” said the professor softly, kneeling before his daughter and making her look down at him – it was obvious he understood the gravity of her accusations. “There was an incredibly miniscule change for this to happen. We didn’t want you to be constantly worried for something that would probably never come to pass. “

He explained their reasoning clearly, and was clearly apologetic for hurting her – but he didn’t say that what they did was wrong. Confused, she raised her eyes, meeting her mother’s. Grace’s eyes narrowed slightly, looking …defensive? She looked back at her father’s eyes, which looked like a copy of his wife’s, only painted light blue.

Yet even then, they still seemed honest to her. They’re telling the truth, Ashley concluded, but that’s not the whole story here. But it was clear to see from her parents’ faces she was not going to hear it from them anytime soon.

Upon seeing the resignation in her eyes, Jonathan hugged her closely, while Grace turned back to the table to pick up Ashley’s equipment (and stumbling on the pouch on the short way there) and handed it to her silently.

She dressed quickly (Jonathan had his back turned, putting the provisions and the items he deemed necessary from Ashley’s bag into the pouch), and tied the sword’s sheath and the wooden shield with straps to her back (she saw earlier that pulling things from the pouch had a slight delay – she could not afford it if she was going to deal with those monsters again). She felt a slight pull on her hips, and looked down to see her father tying the pouch to her belt, strangely blinking quite a lot. Grace came to her with the map, pointing to a certain spot on it.

“According to our research, our town should be here,” she said, and then moved her finger slowly to another spot to the south, “you should first go here, to Kakariko village. We have some friends there who follow the old ways. They’d be able to help you more.“

She hugged her closely, and then let her husband do the same. Ashley opened the kitchen door, then turned back to look at the both of them. They looked at her with a worried and somewhat hopeful expression.

“I’m off, “she said.

“Good Luck,” replied Grace with a warm smile.

She turned back and left the room, her head held high and filled with determination. _I_ will _save them, no matter what._

They watched her leave, and stayed in the same positions until the heard the distant ‘thud’ of the door closing.

“Good Luck, Link,” murmured Jonathan.

 

* * *

 

 

It felt like they were going for hours, but when Kevin looked at his watch he saw it was only about 40 minutes. Like most of the others (those that weren’t completely frozen in fear the whole time) his arms were tired from banging them uselessly against his capturer’s back, his throat sore from shouting for help and his cheeks sticky from dried tears. The creatures were running pretty fast, and their grip on them never loosened. Eventually, they reached a clearing of sorts.

Then, they just stopped. Their nerves, that were already incredibly strained, were strained even further. Liz was so stressed she just stopped breathing. Their capturers stood there, waiting, for so long Liz started coughing, unable to hold her breath any longer. Just as she drew the stares of the creatures, the scenery around them changed. It was a sharp and sudden change - they couldn’t see clearly for a moment because there was less light – but when their pupils widened they could see they were in a desert wasteland, and in front of a massive fortress.

You could see it was modeled after a medieval castle, but there was something eerily off about it. The stones were dark grey, almost black, instead of the usual white, the towers were unproportionately tall and thin, the edges of every gate were sharp and pointy, and there were different creatures everywhere, armed with sharp spears and broad swords.

The creatures carried them inside the castle, through wide corridors that were lit by sconces, until they’ve reached one with big steel doors. The leader of the pig-men opened it – and all Kevin could see was that the small window had grating on it, before he was thrown by his capturer into the room.

After all of them were thrown in, like they were merely baggage, they just sat there, rubbing their arms and legs from the contact with the cold, hard floor. Mr. Edgeworth (who had woken up on the way) stood up before them, taking a fighting stance, acting as a shield.

“Where are we?” he demanded, “What do you want with us?”

He received no answer. The pig-man just slammed the door shut. When the echo from the metallic noise of the door closing faded, they could hear from the window sobbing, coming from the rooms next to them.

“What’s going to happen to us?” asked Liz with a small, fearful voice.


	3. Taking Arms

Ashley was walking down the road. It has been 6 days since she went on her way, and she grew increasingly more and more stressed. She didn’t know what Ganon needed her friends for, so every second counted. But she forgot the land was formed by combining several continents – much, much bigger than the map lead her to believe. Even walking as quickly as she could, only this morning she could faintly see the top of the mountains to the south – the first sign she was getting closer to Kakariko village, which was located right before them.

The monsters didn’t help either. The first day was rather fine, even if walking on the broken down asphalt between the fallen electric poles farther dampened her already low spirit. It was on the second day, when she was climbing a particularly steep hill, when her senses suddenly perked up. Something was wrong. She froze, and when the sound of her footsteps finally died out she could hear a distant weird, wet sound. Drawing her sword and stepping lightly, she followed it until she saw what could possibly be the angriest plant _ever_.

If she had to compare it to something, it would be a flytrap, only this one was indigo and its ‘head’ was bigger than hers. It made loud sloshing sounds as it spit saliva everywhere, shaking its head violently. She got a little closer, just beyond its reach, and the plant immediately tried to bite her top half off. She jumped closer, and with a swift motion and flicked her sword and cut off the plant’s stem in two uneven halves. With a shriek, the head and base exploded in a puff of smoke. The stem, that was flexible enough to launch at Ashley from afar, turned stiff and dry. It was still too thin and fragile to be used as a weapon, she quickly judged, but she could still do something with it. It seemed it would burn pretty well, for one.

 

* * *

 

 

The next four days were pretty much the same as the second; mostly uneventful, with the occasional monster here and there. At first she was alarmed, but by now she was used to it. A monster pops up, and she destroys it. She collected quite a few gems – most of them green, but I few were blue. She wondered about that; just natural variety, or are the gems in one color significantly different than the other?

She was trying to distract herself from her worries by those thoughts, but it didn’t work very well; every few minutes she checked the map again, making sure she was in the right direction, even though she hadn’t changed her direction in the last three days. When she didn’t check the map, her eyes were locked at the mountains, wishing she could reach them faster this way.

“Miss!” a voice rang.

Ashley lowered her eyes to find a young man in uniform walking towards her. Past him she could see a large number of tents and a makeshift fence, bearing a ‘No Unauthorized Entry’ sign. There was a small, temporary base, right in the middle of nowhere.

 

“Miss, could you stop for a moment? I have something to ask you. “

While she was looking, the soldier was walking quickly in her direction, making his partner, whom stayed at the entrance, quite uncomfortable. She changed her direction, now going in a roundabout way to avoid the base. _I really don’t have time for this right now_ , she thought to herself.

 

“Miss, please stop!“ the young man persisted, quickening his pace. She hastened her walking as well, almost breaking into a run. What does he want from her?

 

“I said, stop!” five minutes later, after completely abandoning his post and starting to jog, the man succeeded in blocking her way.

“Miss, please state your full name and purpose. “ While his expression was strict, his tone was polite, not betraying a single sign of breathlessness.  

Ashley scowled. _After all the ruckus, that’s what you want to ask?_

“Link Ashley Knight. I’m on my way to Kakariko village,” she returned the sentiment though, trying to hide her displeasure, albeit a little too late.

 

“You-” he started asking, but stopped when he fully processed her words, confusion painting his face. “Kakariko village?” he asked.

“It’s south of here, “she replied, “just north of the mountains. ”

His eyes narrowed, and he nodded slightly, as if she confirmed his suspicions.

“Miss, your map...is it an accurate one?”

 

She immediately understood what he was thinking, her anger subsiding. If there was a map of the new world, the military could not ignore it.

 

“Mostly. “

“Of the near area? Or the whole continent?”

“The whole continent. “

“Where did you get it?”

“From my parents. It’s a long story…”

 

He pondered for a moment, then he reached out to a pocket on the side of his pants ( _how big are those things?_ Ashley wondered as she saw his hand burrow there halfway to the elbow) and pull out a cordless phone.

“Sir? Can you hear me?“

“ _You’re a bit broken up. Why did you leave your post?_ ” an accusing male voice could be heard from the other side.

”Dave is still there. Listen, I have a civilian here whom has a map of the continent.”

There was silence from the other side. He understood it’s meaning, though, as he launched into an explanation.

“Around 16, medium height, slim build,” he hesitated, then added “she also has wooden sword and shield.”

“ _What’s the sword for?”_

“What’s the sword for?” the soldier repeated.

“Monsters. “ Ashley replied shortly, not to the soldier, but rather to his commander through the phone.

The soldier knitted his eyebrows.

“ _Your map, is it accurate?_ ” the man on the other side didn’t fail to notice who she was talking to.

“Mostly. I saw a satellite image of the world right after the earthquake - it looks pretty much the same. “

He stayed silent for a moment, contemplating something.

“ _Corporal, take her weapons and bring her here. Keep an eye on her. Miss, I’m sorry about this, but if you’re telling the truth it’s-._ “

“It’s all right, I get it,” she said, taking the straps of the shield off.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Lieutenant Tyrell,” he said as he shook her hand.

“You can call me Ashley, ” she replied, smiling slightly.

 

He was quite young for a lieutenant, though his beard made him look a bit more the part. His shirt was lazily stuck in his pans, his sleeves rolled up instead of folded. Calling him unruly wasn’t completely right; rather than not paying attention to the dress code expected of him as a commander, he followed it, but didn’t dwell on the details.

 

 “There it is, Sir, “ a soldier entered the tent. It was a different soldier than before – the lieutenant sent _him_ back to his post (“Don’t let Maina find out what you did,” he instructed him jokingly as the soldier laid her things at the corner). The soldier put a piece of paper on the wooden table. She recognized it at a glance - it was the same satellite image she saw on their TV on the day of the earthquake. _Which, when you think about it…_

“If you have satellite images, why can’t you get a more detailed map yourselves?”

she asked, feeling stupid for not noticing earlier.

Tyrell seemed mildly surprised. _What, he really couldn’t figure it out?_ she thought, slightly irritated at his stupidity.

“We tried, but we can never get a better image than this, and we only get the general shape of the land at best. It’s like something interferes with the satellite image, somehow. “ It appeared her inner accusations were completely off the mark.

Covering up for her embarrassment at her quick judgement before they notice it, she pulled out the map from the pouch (ignoring their amazement) and laid it next to the satellite image.

“I’ve been walking south for six days from here,” she pointed to the spot where her parents presumed their house was, “ and I’m trying to get here,” moved her finger to the small dot on the map that represented Kakariko village, just like her father did.

“it didn’t take me long, so I’m guessing the proportions are about-”

She was cut off by the finally recovered commander.

“Six days?” he was bewildered, “How in the world did you make it here in _six_ days?” He stared at the maps, trying to gauge the distance again.

She cocked her head. “By walking?”

“By the scale of the satellite image, for trained troops, it’s twice that much, _at least_! How on the world did you-” he whipped his head from the table to her, “Are you even human?”

“Wha-”

Her surprise was cut short by the arrival of a young woman. By the ranks on her shoulder, she was a lieutenant too. Unlike Tyrell, she was extremely proper – so much Ashley had to wonder if it was an obsession. Her blouse was stretched in order to stick out, her sleeves buttoned and not folded, and her hair in a tight braid, where not ever a hair dared to be out of place. Her expression was stiff too, sizing Ashley.

 

“Danya, help out here. She says she _walked_ this-” Tyrell used his pointing finger and thumb to point at the two locations of Ashley’s map, “-in _six days_.”

The other lieutenant glanced briefly at the map. “Wait. That’s where we are?” she leaned over to the table, taking a more thorough look.

Ashley looked too. His thumb was on the point where she marked as her home earlier, but his pointing finger was marking a spot slightly to the north of the mountains, where the map showed a small hill.

“Based on the scale and our distance from the mountains,” he explained, before removing his thumb from the parchment and moving his other finger to where the thumb was a second ago. “But it just doesn’t match! Do you think the map is accurate?”

Danya pursed her lips. “How do you know that’s your starting point, umm…”

“Ashley. “

“Ashley. So, how do you know where you started?”

“Did the map tell you?” Lt. Tyrell interrupted.

Danya shot him a contemptuous look. “The map _told_ her?” she sneered.

“Well, she didn’t pull the map out of her pocket. She-”

_Thinking about it, the map probably came from the royal family too… maybe it_ can _tell me,_ she thought. She shook her head. She didn’t have time to focus on hypothetical magic right now. 

 

“...my parents researched the Old Kingdom, and this is where they presumed our house is,” she said, somewhat apologetic, “So I don’t actually know where it really is. “

“So it could be closer to here, for all you know,” said Danya in a matter of fact voice. Ashley lowered her head.

“Well, that settles it,” said Tyrell,

“And it also settled the question of accuracy. ” He turned to one of the soldiers standing in the tent (Ashley jumped a little. They were so quiet she forgot they were there), “Could you make a copy of this? I’ll fax HQ the map with explanations later. ”

“Right away, Sir,” she answered, and moved to the tent’s entrance....

...only to stop dead in her tracks by a panicked voice on the radio communication.

“ _Screwdriver_ , _this is Watchout #9. Do you hear me? Over._ “

“Watchout #9, this is Screwdriver, hearing you loud and clear.  What’s the problem? Over. “ answered an officer, putting down the snacks he was munching.

Ashley didn’t stay to listen to the rest of the chat. As soon as Danya confirmed ‘Screwdriver’ indeed meant ‘War Room’, she grabbed her sword and shield from the corner of the tent. If someone calls the War Room sounding like that, it could only mean trouble.

“Where is Watchout #9?!” she asked urgently. Tyrell peeked up at her from the small walkie-talkie. After hesitating for a moment, the young lieutenant reached a quick decision and pointed in the direction opposite from the tent’s entrance. She ran out, struggling to put on her shield while moving.

 

She reached them minutes later; expertly sliding to stop her motion before she collides with the fence they closed to protect the camp. And it was obvious from what; the guards were engaged in a furious struggle with two goblin-like monsters, and a another group of them could be seen making their way towards them.

 

The soldiers were holding their rifles in an odd fashion - they were holding them by the handguard, and hitting their foes with the stock, using the rifle as a makeshift club.

As Ashley was planning to rush in, she could hear the sound of many running boots in the distance, but just then the taller of the two soldiers lost her grip on her weapon. The goblins, which were about half a grown man’s height, were rather difficult to hit - not using much force would do little to harm them but hitting to hard could jeopardize your grip if it’s not stable enough. As happened now.

 

The monster didn’t miss this opportunity: it swung its sword at her abdomen with a low grunt. She managed to evade, but she tripped on her own rifle. She rolled aside as the goblin-like creature tried to stab her on the ground, but it wasn’t going to give her a chance to stand up, and she was weaponless.

 

Seizing the moment her opponent had its full attention on the fallen guard, and charged at the creature from the side. It flinched, and then came at her with a shout. She held sword it swung at her by the tip of hers, and with a loud yell attacked in a flurry of slashes.

It disappeared in the now familiar puff of smoke. The other creature, rushing to help its friend, fell on its back with one swift motion of her sword. As it fell on its back, she wasted no moment and stabbed at the creature’s heart (if monsters had one?).

 

As the body turned black and disappeared, she heard in the silence that fell a shout: “Get back!”

She raised her head. Reinforcements have arrived. But so did the enemies. The goblin-like monsters managed to get much closer to them while they were struggling

Ashley and the two guards ran back and got behind the line of soldiers whom stood at the base entrance.

“Area Clear!”

Tyrell, who stood at the right end on the firing line, waited for a few moments, his eyes searching the horizon intently for more people.

Eventually, his eyes narrowed. He straightened up, and with a booming voice commanded: “Fire!”

Ashley’s ears popped from the extremely loud sound of gunshots, as they fired at the monsters from the small hill the base was on. The bullets didn’t affect them the same as it did humans: there were no blood stains, and they continued marching forward as if the bullet wounds were no more than small, inconsequential needle pricks. However, by the time they halfway to them, they were already perforated like Swiss cheese. They only managed to make a few more steps before puffing out of existence, some of them dropping hexagonal jewels to the ground.

 

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief, putting her sword back in its scabbard. It was over.

“Cease fire!”

 

* * *

 

 

Kilometers away, in a castle taken straight from medieval times, a girl stood by the window. It was a rather small one - most of the large windows to the outside in the castle had stained glass, and weren’t suitable for watching outside. Out the window some knights were engaged in combat. They all appeared tense, their swords clashing with force.

“Are you watching the practice session?”

“I’m amazed you have time for small talk,” she answered him in a blank tone without shifting her gaze, “as you did not have the time to join the practice yourself. “

The man frowned. He was one of the kingdom’s elite knights, yet he could do nothing against this young lady. “But your Highness, I was simply taking a-”

“-Break?” she completed his sentence, finally turning around to face him, her long dress fluttering as it spun. “Yet your subordinates are out there practicing. It’s saddening to hear their captain has the audacity to take _breaks_. “

He gritted his teeth. Unconcerned, she pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, its elongated and sharp end holding it from moving, before focusing on the man before her. “Now, do you have any information for me, or did you come here to waste my time as well?”

His vision turned red with fury - he was not a very patient man - but he forced himself to calm down. She was not an opponent he could face - not politically, and not on the battlefield.

“I just wished to inform you Halberd’s team has returned, “ he said with a forced smile and pacifying tone.

Her expression stiffened. “I see,” she said, and walked away towards the door right behind him, “I shall go speak with him. “

She left, not bothering to thank the man fuming behind her.

She didn’t have to walk very far; the man she was looking for was leaning on the wall besides the door she just went through.

“You don’t have to be so harsh with him, you know. Everyone needs to take a break once in a while. “ he said in a low voice so the man inside won’t hear.

“Three hour breaks every two hours is not _one in a while_ , “ she rebutted, “Why do we keep this imbecile?”

“He fights well, and we really can’t afford to lose people right now, “ he reminded her, “Now come on, we’re having a meeting in the main Hall. “

She raised her eyebrows. “I thought you’re the only one that came back? What’s the need to go to the main Hall?”

“The Rito messenger from Death Mountain has arrived. There’s some trouble in the Gerudo Desert, as we suspected. “

Her expression darkened, as it always has when discussing the Gerudo. “In that case, call the imbecile. He needs to be there too, “ the young lady ordered him, and quickly left the room.

Halberd smiled to himself. “Yes, your Highness. “

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for being so late (I moved jobs in October, and work has been hectic). I swear it's not going to be like that every time ><  
> Thing clamed down now, so you can expect the next one much sooner. I hope you enjoy this one ^^

**Author's Note:**

> I'm working full-time, so I can't promise frequent updates (the fact that I can't seem to write short chapters doesn't help).   
> I there will be updates though, so wait for it! ^^


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